


Real love

by DreamDrop



Series: The bodyguard and his protégé [10]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Both of them being adorable, Damen remembers Laurent's graduation, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluff, Laurent is giving a guest lecture, M/M, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25486624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamDrop/pseuds/DreamDrop
Summary: Laurent visits the University of Ios and gives a guest lecture. Damen accompanies him and remembers Laurent's graduation. Feels ensue.
Relationships: Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince), Laurent & Nicaise (Captive Prince)
Series: The bodyguard and his protégé [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1834633
Comments: 4
Kudos: 101





	Real love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kittenpurple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenpurple/gifts).



> Hello my dear readers.  
> I am very happy to greet you here.  
> I take prompts for this universe, so if you'd like to read a special scene/setting, write to me here or on tumblr (dreamdropxoxo). I promise I will visit tumblr more often again and do my best to work on your prompts.  
> This work is a gift to Kittenpurple, who supports me whenever I post a story or a new chapter. Thank you for your continuous support. It means a lot to me.  
> Love to all of you!

Damen loved to listen to his husband, even if he had no idea what he was talking about. Right now Laurent was a guest lecturer at the University of Ios for a lecture on the topic of "Vision Algorithms for Mobile Robotics". 

Save to say that Damen had no fucking clue about what Laurent was talking.  
But that didn't matter to him. He sat happily there and listened to the genius that married him of all people. He had always known that Laurent was beyond intelligent. 

He had conversed with a 9-year-old Laurent on a higher level than with some adults he knew. But that had never intimidated or unnerved him. He had loved to see the bright mind in the tiny body of the person he loved most on this green earth grow into something refined and even more beautiful.

Laurent looked sharp in his suit, not only had his mind grown even more beautiful but the whole person was the most gorgeous being anyone had ever laid eyes on. And Damen though, even after ten years of being in a relationship with the man and 25 years of knowing him, that Laurent was hot as hell. 

He grinned when he thought back to the day when Laurent graduated from University with his bachelor degree. 

_That day Auguste could not attend and thus Damen was the one who could hug and congratulate a 19 years old Laurent first. Laurent had finished with exceptional grades, celebrated as one of the geniuses of the century._

_None of that interested Damen in the slightest. He knew his protégé was a genius and it didn't influence Laurent's worth in his eyes. Laurent could have failed 100 times over and Damen would still have been proud of him._

_To him, it was most important that Laurent smiled happily at him and hugged him close when he left the stage after giving the graduation speech. "I am very proud of you."_

_"Thank you, Damianos." Laurent looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulder. He was still so young and yet, he was much wiser than many people with twice as much years of life experience were._

_"Your brother sends his regards. I recorded your speech, he almost cried on the live stream. He actually cursed me for being here when it had been denied for him. Do you know he called me yesterday just to warn me to not buy you dinner yet because he wants to buy you your graduation dinner?"_

_Laurent laughed. It was a rare sound and Damen was feeling honored that he was allowed to hear it. "He is such a dork. Nobody would believe me that the king is so emotional over a graduation speech."  
"I would."_

_"You know him for over 10 years and he is one of your best friends. But we could go and ask everybody else here and they would think we were crazy." Laurent smiled indulgently and then took a selfie of himself and Damen to send to Auguste._

"Damen, we can go." Laurent stood before him, watching him closely, an eyebrow raised. "I told you, you didn't have to attend. It was awfully boring for you, wasn't it? What caught your attention?" 

Damen got up and jumped over the table to avoid walking through the whole row of seats.  
"I just remembered when you graduated with your bachelor."

Laurent smiled. "Back then I wasn't allowed to do this." He grabbed Damen's tie and pulled him down a few centimeters until he could kiss him, short and sweet.  
"No. You were still underage."

"Only in Vere. Not in Akielos," Laurent reminded him.  
"Where we celebrated your graduation party, if you still remember."  
"I must confess, I was a bit preoccupied that evening. Some of my fellow students tried to convince me that you were my sugar daddy." Laurent chuckled at the memory and Damen's jaw dropped open. "What?"

"That was my reaction entirely. But now it makes sense. I didn't disclose my family name and studied with a fake identity. Nobody knew that I belonged to the royal family, pictures of me were still rare back then. Auguste made sure of it."

"Yes, but other people have bodyguards too."  
"You didn't look like a bodyguard, Damen." Laurent let his gaze drop to Damen's chest and then he dragged his eyes back up to his face very slowly.  
"Tell me what happened."

_Laurent entered the big hall alongside Damen, whom he showed to his seat. He was unexpectedly nervous. Not because of the speech he had to give but because Damen was there and Auguste wasn't. The man looked gorgeous in his dark navy suit. He attended as Laurent's guest and not his bodyguard and as a result didn't wear the black tailored suit he usually wore._

_Laurent had almost had an heart attack when he saw him entering the university building.  
"Are you nervous?" Damen smiled down at him and Laurent contemplated lying.  
"A bit." He was always bad at lying to Damen. He received a grin. "You don't have to be, I know you'll be amazing. Runs in the family after all."_

_Laurent felt how he flushed. He despised the fact that he couldn't control his biological reaction to Damen better. He never flushed despite his fair skin except for when Damen complimented him. Sometimes he hated himself._

_"Yes. I know." He nodded, squared his shoulders and then waved over to where he was already expected to be. "I need to get in place. Otherwise, my professor will have a hysterical fit. He is rather nervous about the whole thing today. Some idiot told him that this ceremony would be filmed for the king to see and now he wants everything to be perfect. I bet it was Lazar."_

_Damen laughed and shook his head. "Auguste will be very pleased. Come here." He tucked a lock of Laurent's hair behind his ear and then caressed his cheek tenderly.  
"Don't fret over what might or might not happen now. You are loved very dearly by the people that matter most and this won't change even if you trip while climbing the stairs."_

_Laurent felt how his cheeks grew even hotter. It was humiliating. He only nodded because he didn't trust his voice to be stable when Damen was so close. Then he turned around and joined his fellow students._

_Vannes, one of his friends, whistled and nudged him. "No wonder you never wanted to date the people I introduced to you. You are happily taken care off."  
"What do you mean?" Laurent was honestly confused. Especially, when she nodded towards Damen and said, "Your sugar daddy takes good care of you. I always asked myself how you could afford all these things."_

_Laurent needed a second to make the connection, then he flushed bright red. "That's not how it is. Damen is a close friend of my brother."  
"Yes, sure, the close friends of my siblings attend my graduation too", Jord added with a wink._

_"You don't have to be embarrassed. I wouldn't hesitate either if someone like him would take an interest in me. But with your face it's no surprise. He is Akielon, isn't he?"_

_"Yes, he is. But I am serious. Damen is just here because my brother couldn't come."  
Jord snorted. "That looked totally different from over here. He was two seconds away from ravishing you."  
Laurent shook his head they had to be blind. "Are you delusional?"_

_"No. We are not, maybe you are. I believe you, if you tell me that he never touched you sexually, but he would damn much like to do that, I assure you. If you don't realize you have to be very dense," Vannes mused while watching Damen closely. "But he really is damn hot."_

_"He would not. For fucks sake, Vannes. Damen doesn't even look at me."  
Vannes laughed a startled laugh. "What? You really think that?"  
"Yes. In his eyes I am still the kid I was ten years ago. He sees me as a little brother and nothing more, so don't insinuate that there is something more."  
Jord again snorted and only shook his head. _

_"You are really naïve. The man is whipped. I bet he was the one who gifted you with the notebook you carry with you wherever you go, wasn't he?"  
Laurent knew exactly what she was talking about and unfortunately, she was right. "Yes."_

_Now she snickered. "And what about the book with Akielon poems?"  
"It was a birthday gift."  
"Sure. Then what about your laptop bag?"  
"Yes, that was from him too." Laurent knew where she was going with her questions and he didn't like it.  
"And what about the tie you wear today?"  
It was a beautiful tie, it had the exact shade of his eyes and Laurent sighed, beaten. "Yes."_

_"I fucking knew it! Laurent, you can't deny it anymore. You've got yourself a sugar daddy, even if you didn't realize it." She laughed and patted his shoulder. Laurent scowled. "You are misunderstanding, I assure you."_

_"I think you are misunderstanding. He is very much interested in you. And you shouldn't let someone like him wait. He is hot, has money and clearly loves you dearly."  
Laurent didn't reply because he needed to go and give his speech. _

Damen grinned. "Vannes thought I was your sugar daddy? That makes sense. It explains our first meeting. Why didn't you tell me? I always thought she was a bit strange after that."

Laurent shrugged. "She deserved it. I mean how insolent do you have to be?"  
"I thought it was funny. I mean she was overjoyed when she found out we were engaged."

Laurent rolled his eyes. It was clear that Damen had enjoyed how Vannes had squealed and had hugged Laurent close while simultaneously shouting, "I hope you don't stop calling him "daddy" in bed. Just because he's making an honest man out of you, doesn't mean you should forget your shared past."

"You are a menace, Damianos."  
"I know, Sir." The older man grinned and drew Laurent close to kiss him. They were married for over six years but still, sometimes Damen liked to remind Laurent of their first years.

"She would be so disappointed to know I never called you Daddy in bed. I swear even after learning about my real identity, she sometimes has this glint in her eyes. It's unnerving." 

Laurent walked through the halls of the university with a surety that was mesmerizing. Damen couldn't tear his gaze away. He took Laurent's hand in his, intertwining their fingers and placing a kiss on his knuckles.

"I love you." It didn't stop to amaze him how those three little words lit up Laurent's entire face. His expression grew softer, his eyes found Damen's and he replied, "I love you too."

"Hey old man! Do you want lunch in the cafeteria?" Nicaises voice brought them back to reality.  
"Who of us does he address with "Old man"?" Damen sounded pained.  
"You obviously, I am ten years younger than you, old man." Laurent chuckled, but turned around to flip Nicaise off.

"You wound me. I don't look one day older than forty."  
"Still seven years older than I am now. In conclusion, you are old, Damen. I am sorry to break it to you. But don't despair. I love you no matter how old you get."

"Then I don't have to worry and can die as a happy man." Damen grinned and joined Nicaise who watched them with disgust on his face. "You two are horrible. Gosh, I just hope I never get so sappy. Your brains have to be mushy."

"How is your thesis going?" Laurent didn't even reply to Nicaise's his insults. The younger man grimaced. Nicaise had, after overcoming his rebellious phase, taken after his cousin and started to study Information Technology and Robotics at Ios University. 

He was also the reason why Damen and Laurent were visiting. Although their private visit had soon turned to a state affair. 

The Akielon government had insisted on inviting them to a state dinner and the university had invited Laurent to present his newest projects. Laurent had used that opportunity to include a guest lecture, which had overjoyed the board to no end. 

They couldn't get a free lecture from one of the brightest minds on the whole continent so easily otherwise. Laurent loved his job and he could inspire young people to love it just as much as he did. 

"I am working on it."  
"If you need help, you can tell me anytime."  
"You already helped me. The rest I need to finish myself." Nicaise smiled. "But thank you very much for offering. I know you are very busy. I never told you how much I appreciate what you did and still do for me."

"Now you sound just as sappy as Damen, Nicaise. We are family. I love you and you are a good person. Obviously I support you" Laurent smiled back and Damen had the feeling that this was a magic moment to witness. The two of them didn't like to show their vulnerable side and for both of them to do it at the same time was a one in a million chance.

"Where are Lazar and Pallas?" Nicaise looked a bit embarrassed and was quick to change the topic.

"I gave them the day off. Lazar is just too annoying to take to a lecture, last time he actually threw paper balls at me for the whole two hours, and Pallas is always so tense when Damen is with me. You must do horrible things to your employees if they are so god-fearing." Laurent teased and Damen just shrugged.  
"I am just well informed. I know everyone's weakness. After that, it's just a question of how to take advantage of this knowledge. Lazar is the big exception to the rule."

Laurent sighed. "He is horrible."  
"But we still couldn't imagine life without him, admit it, Laurent." Nicaise grinned and directed them to a table. "I think our lives turned out for the best in the end."

Laurent's blue eyes found Damen's and he felt as if he might drown in them, especially when his husband smiled, open and bright and replied, "You are right. Mine absolutely did."  
Damen knew that the warm feeling in his chest was real, beautiful and precious.


End file.
